[Contraceptive practices and sexual initiation among young people in three Brazilian State capitals].

This study investigated contraceptive use during first sexual intercourse among 2.790 young men and women. The GRAVAD household survey in three Brazilian capital cities involved interviews in a probabilistic sample. A hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used. Variables grouped as: macro-social, socialization and sexual initiation, context of sexual initiation, and characteristics of the interviewee and his or her partner. The prevalence of contraceptive use was 68.3% for women and 65.3% for men. Among women, contraception use was associated to: per capita monthly family income, color/race, and the use of women's magazines as a source of information on pregnancy and contraception. For both genders, use was more frequent when partners discussed pregnancy prevention before intercourse, when sexual initiation was delayed and in a motel, and when the partner was patient. The interval between the start of the relationship and sexual initiation appeared associated to use during sexual initiation for men. Results suggest that macro-social factors determine more frequent contraception use during sexual initiation for women, while for men the relational context is more important.